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News from the darkest corners of the
musical universe:
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Wednesday, April 25, 2007 ◦
Out now:
SUN RA
The Creator of the Universe
The Lost Reel Collection Volume One
Transparency 0301 (2xCD with 12-page booklet)
UPC 716205030123
The Lost Reel Collection is a series of completely unheard and unknown recordings by SUN RA of the highest quality, none of which are listed in any previous discography or reference book. We anticipate configuring these records in seven Volumes totalling eleven discs.
The first disc of Volume One is a concert at a warehouse in San Francisco in June 1971. The centerpiece is a very dramatic and intense 20-minute declamation by Ra, punctuated by the horns of the Arkestra. This must be heard to be believed. Disc Two is one of the classes given by Ra during his teaching residency at UC Berkeley in May 1971. You can even hear chalk on a blackboard in places while Ra is speaking. This is a Sun Ra album like no other!
Available at your favorite retailer, or via instant buy on Ebay.
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Tuesday, April 17, 2007 ◦
The Sun Ra Arkestra under the direction of Marshall Allen will appear in a free outdoor concert on Friday, April 27, 6:30 p.m. at the Pratt Institute, 200 Willoughby Ave. (between Hall St. & Classon Ave.), Brooklyn, NY. For additonal information on this event click here.
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Sunday, April 15, 2007 ◦
Legendary crooner Don Ho, known for his raspberry-tinted sunglasses and catchy signature tune "Tiny Bubbles," has died, his publicist said. He was 76. Publicist Donna Jung said the singer died Saturday morning of heart failure. He had suffered with heart problems for the past several years, and had a pacemaker installed last fall. In 2005, he underwent an experimental stem cell procedure on his ailing heart in Thailand in 2005.
Ho entertained Hollywood's biggest stars and thousands of tourists for four decades. For many, no trip to Hawaii was complete without seeing his Waikiki show - a mix of songs, jokes, double entendres, Hawaii history and audience participation.
Shows usually started and ended with the same song, "Tiny Bubbles," which Ho mostly hummed as the audience enthusiastically took over.
"I hate that song," he often joked to the crowd, adding that he saved it for the end because "people my age can't remember if we did it or not."
Donald Tai Loy Ho, who is Hawaiian, Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch and German, was born Aug. 13, 1930, in Honolulu and grew up in the then-rural countryside of Kaneohe.
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Sunday, April 01, 2007 ◦
Sun Ra's Strange Strings will appear on CD as part of the Atavistic Unheard Music Series with a bonus track. The street release date is scheduled for June 5, 2007.
Strange Strings was first released on Sun Ra's Saturn label as a LP, recorded circa 1966, where Sun Ra put string instruments in the hands of the Arkestra members and created one of the most distinctive avant-garde jazz recordings of all time. That legendary session still stands up to the most outside creations being done by today's most innovative musicians, many of which have been inspired by this 40 year old recording.
The previously unissued bonus track was recorded at Sun Studios in New York City circa 1967 (one year after Strange Strings was recorded) and is titled "Door Squeak". This 10 minute and 27 second piece features Sun Ra playing a door with a squeaky hinge along with some members of the Arkestra on string instruments, like on the original Strange Strings recording. There appears to be some unique Kora work by Marshall Allen on this track. It is a very interesting recording that Sun Ra purists and tone scientists should find of interest.
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